Haunted
by Kate Taylor
Summary: EO oneshot. The day Elliot's divorce is final.


Disclaimer: The characters in this story are not my own but are the property of Wolf Productions and NBC.

Rated: G

Summery: EO oneshot. The day Elliot's divorce is final.

**--- Haunted ---**

Elliot woke with a start and glanced at his watch. It was only 9:30 and it took a moment for his head to clear enough for him to realize that he'd fallen asleep on the couch of his living room.

Something had awoken him and the answer to his question of what, was answered by another knock at his door. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and glanced down at his disheveled clothes before sighing. Besides his suit jacket, which he'd taken off when he'd gotten in, he was still in the clothes that he'd worn to work.

It took him a moment to make his way to the door and when he opened it, he was surprised to find his partner standing there. Olivia took one look at him and guessed the situation.

"Sorry I woke you." She was partly relieved to know that he had been. Their day at the precinct hadn't been a good one. He'd been irritable and distant and it hadn't been long before Cragen had ordered them to work separately.

She hadn't been patient but until Cragen had told her, how could she have known that today was the day that Elliot's divorce was final? By then he'd gone home so she'd done the same but she hadn't stopped thinking about him. So now, here she found herself standing at his door at 9:30 at night, wondering what it was that she even intended to say.

"Liv?" She was brought of thought by the sound of his voice. "Want to come in?"

She nodded and stepped inside. At a quick glance around, it was surprisingly clean, of course, it wasn't as though he spent much time here. She turned around as he shut the door.

"Hungry?"

He shrugged, "Sure, why?"

She smiled.

"Good, I ordered Chinese on the way over here. It should be here in ten minutes."

He looked at her in question without saying anything as she turned away and sat down on his couch. Sometimes she perplexed him. It was no secret to him that he'd been hard to work with all day. He stepped her way and sat down on the opposite end of the couch.

"Sorry, Liv." He said quietly, leaning forward. His arms rested on his knees, his eyes cast downward.

"Cragen told me the divorce was final today." She didn't want to hide the fact that she knew. 'You could have told me,' She thought inwardly but didn't voice aloud. God only knew, there were things that she'd kept from him.

"I should have told you," He seemed to read her thoughts. "I guess I just didn't feel like talking about it." It didn't seem to make all that much sense now as he said it. It wasn't as though she didn't know what it was to be alone.

He undid his tie, leaving it still hanging around his neck and loosened the collar of his shirt as they sat in silence for several moments.

"The house is so quiet," He finally spoke, his voice barely more than a whisper. He still refused to look her in the eye.

She nodded, remembering all of the nights that she'd thought the same thing, coming home from work to her empty apartment.

"That's the hardest part isn't it?" She said just as quietly. "Being alone... when the only sound you can hear are the thoughts in your head."

He remained silent for a moment as he thought about her words. His gaze stared forward, off into the distance, as though he was somewhere else entirely.

"You start to think about what you might have done differently... what could have been."

She couldn't tell him how many times she'd thought the same thing. After another failed relationship or her mother's death. When left alone with them, thoughts became haunting. She turned her eyes on him.

"But you're not alone, El." For the first time, his eyes met hers. "You have your kids, everyone at the precinct--"

"I have a damn good partner."

She smiled, "I guess that makes both of us."

There was a knock at the door and she was the first to stand.

"Must be the Chinese, I'll get it."

He nodded without saying anything and she made her way to the door. She was back a moment later but she wasn't alone. He stood, surprised, at the sight of his children standing there.

"Hi, dad," Maureen was the first to speak. "Olivia called, said you could use some company. We picked up Chinese along the way."

He pulled each of them tightly into his arms as Olivia quietly stepped away. She didn't want to intrude on their time as a family.

"Liv?"

She had just reached the door and she turned around to find him now standing right behind her. He was smiling, the first time he had all day.

"Stay." He didn't say anything more and she simply nodded. She wasn't up to being alone tonight either. Together, they stepped back into the living room as the suffocating stillness, which had hung over the house only moments before, dissipated.

Kate Taylor

March, 2006


End file.
